The growing labor shortage faced by construction firms and contractors across several developed markets is a major challenge currently facing the construction industry today. This lack of manpower in developed countries could lead to surge in robots at the construction jobsite in the months ahead.
One case: demolition robots. While these types of robots aren’t necessarily new, they are seeing a growth lately, as Technavio indicates the construction and demolition robot market with grow nine percent between 2018 and 2022.
With a shift of manpower from jobs that require physical labor toward more intellectual and white-collar jobs, robots can help perform tasks on construction projects. Some other reasons for leveraging robots include improving safety and productivity on the construction jobsite.
Robots Finish the Job Faster, Safer
One example of this comes from a Midwestern foundry that performed repetitive tasks and worked in awkward postures. The weekly, four-hour-long process of refractory removal leaves most worn out or injured. To help, the company purchased a 1-ton Brokk 100 to scale the refractory lining from its runners. Prior to using the robotic equipment, this task took four laborers operating rivet busters four hours to complete.
In general, robotic equipment offers greater efficiency instead of handheld tools, giving the operator the power to finish the job in less time while requiring less labor.
The research from Technavio suggests EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) has led with the most adoption last year, followed by APAC (Asia Pacific) and the Americas. Going forward, APAC will witness the highest growth due to investments in infrastructure development.
